October 31st
by I'mDatingTheReceptionist
Summary: Professor Snape's absent from the annual Halloween feast and no one else seems to've noticed except Hermione. First time writing a HP fic so go easy on me! HG/SS.


**A/N Thought I'd try my hand at a Harry Potter fic for the first time. I grew up with the films, so if the personalities/behaviours seem different then maybe that's why. Or it's slightly out of character lol.**

 **Hope you enjoy this c:**

He's absent from the Halloween feast.

Hermione frowns as she watches the High Table. The teachers're all engaged in their own conversations, aside from Professor Trelawny who's busy immersing herself in her plate of food and Hermione feels a twinge of sympathy for her divination professor- granted she never favoured the class but not even Professor Flitwick was paying any sort of attention to her, as if she were simply invisible. Hermione's eyes brush over each of the professors, but there's no mistaking it. He's missing. Strange how none of them have brought any sort of notice to it. Perhaps he's busy brewing a potion down in the dungeons or's simply late, having been stuck monitoring a younger student in detention.

"Oi, Hermione."

She turns at the use of her name to see Ron holding a half eaten pumpkin pasty, his eyes taking in her pinched expression. His eyes hold a hint of concern, "You alright?"

Hermione fixes her gaze on Ron, trying a smile and she lowers her arm to her side. It'd been propping up her chin while she watched the High Table. She lets out a long breath, "I'm fine. Why?"

Harry shrugs. He's sat beside her and's holding a goblet of pumpkin juice, "You haven't said a word since we sat down."

"I…" Hermione stops herself. How long had she been staring at the Table? The loud chatter amongst the other students and the strong smell of roast chicken suddenly catches up with her and she shakes her head out of the daze. Harry and Ron're watching her like hawks until she produces a wide, warm smile to settle their nerves…theirs and her own, "I'm just tired, that's all." Her eyes trail up to Professor McGonnagal who's laughing at a joke Professor Dumbledore'd told her and a fast excuse begins to form in her brain as she glances between her two friends, "I was working on our Transfiguration essay before we were called in here."

Ron takes another bite of his pastry, "Oh, right. When's that due again?" When Hermione just looks at him, his face falls and his grip on the treat loosens, "Oh no. It's not in tomorrow, is it? I haven't even written the introduction yet."

Hermione fights the urge to roll her eyes. She can see Harry smiling, amused at Rons reaction, "Of course not, Ronald. It's due in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Ron stares at her. "Blimey. Hermione. Don't you ever stop working?"

She doesn't bristle at the comment but smiles instead. She's so used to Rons snark remarks at her ability to get a project done in the first few days, "Surely you should know the answer to that by now."

Ron grins, "Right. It's still a mystery to me though."

Hermione simply snorts but he doesn't say anything more and when a silence passes between them, she yet again finds herself looking back up, her eyes taking in each of the professors…

"Hermione?"

"Hm?"

Harry has a hold of her shoulder, the goblet resting on the table with his other hand by his side, "You're doing it again."

Hermione flushes as she fixes her attention to him, "Oh."

"You should get an early night, Hermione." Ron picks up a chicken leg and bites into it, "Stop studying for awhile. It's clearly frying your brain."

Hermione sends him a pierced glare but it goes unnoticed as he eats happily. She sighs when Harrys hand slips from her shoulder and the three fall into a silence- she stares down at her own full plate but her energy's unsettled and she can see Harry closely watching her from the corner of her eye. He knows something's off, as does Ron. But he's too preoccupied by food to pay anymore attention to it. She ignores Harrys gaze and forces herself to eat, to take her mind off of the professors empty chair.

It's only when she bites carefully into a potato does the Great Hall fall suddenly silent and the trio watch as Dumbledore stands to approach the podium. As he launches into his parting message for the night, Hermione once again finds herself drawn to his seat - as far as she knows, none of the staff're absent for the Halloween feast. They never have been. It's almost an unspoken rule that they all attend this dinner as if it's somewhat of a family tradition, so wouldn't anybody else find it odd that someone's missing from the table? No?

Not once does Dumbledore mention it, she realises as she phases back in. She sighs again and slowly rises from her seat as the headmaster dismisses them all for the night. As Harry drains the last of his pumpkin juice and Ron swipes another pasty from the plate, Hermione takes the chance to sneak a final glance at the Table to see if any of the teachers really haven't noticed a thing and she feels a jolt in her chest when Professor McGonnagal walks right past his place.

There's a nudge in her back and it quickly dawns on her that she's being moved with the crowd. She can hear Percys shout for first years who still don't know their way around to follow him back to the common room but it's gradually being drowned out by the hustle and bustle of various students and she hurries to catch up with Harry and Ron who're trying to weave their way out of the sea of kids. Ron's joking about wishing to be an animagus to get out of the hall before anyone else when she finds a spot beside him and she rolls her eyes, which Harry sees. He laughs as he asks,

"Oh yeah? What kind of animagus would you be, Ron?"

Ron shrugs, his hands in the pockets of his robes, "A mouse?"

"Did you forget," Hermione cuts in, "that I still have a cat, Ronald?"

Ron snorts, "I could get away from that blinking beast."

"Hey!" Hermione playfully hits him as they finally break free from everyone and they trail behind a few Gryffindor 6th years, stopping in the middle of a moving staircase before stepping onto the landing. As Hermione follows the duo up, she goes back in her own head again, thinking about the table and how nobody besides her seemed to pick out their absent potions Professor…

She doesn't know why this's bothering her so much. Yes it was admittedly odd but it could be easily brushed off- but the notion of it being the very first time a teacher hasn't appeared at a feast won't stop niggling at her. It wasn't as if he'd be sick or anything like that. And besides, it if had been urgent, the student body would've been known immediately…

"Hermione?"

She's pulled back when she notices both boys staring at her, Harrys eyes narrowed as he watches her curiously. It's Ron who's said her name, his hand on the bannister while Harry's almost at the top of the staircase, all waiting for it to stop for them to go onto the next floor. She must still have a far off look in her eyes because Ron tilts his head at her,

He opens his mouth to ask what's going on, but she drops her eyes as she finds herself blurting out a hurried line, "I left something in the Great Hall."

Harry frowns, "What? But-"

Hermione turns before they can see her cheeks reddening. She hardly lies to anybody let alone her friends, "I'll meet you in the common room." Praying they don't see through her, she makes her way back down the staircase, almost knocking over a 4th year Gryffindor with sandy blond hair. Harry and Ron watch her leave. They know something's off, it wasn't that hard to tell when Hermione was outright lying to somebody after all, but they have no choice but to shrug it off and hope that whatever she's really doing, she'll be okay by the end of it. So they head up to the common room and instead of going to bed, decide to sit in an arm chair each and wait.

Hermione lets out a sigh as she steps onto the landing. That was close. Her mind's still in the clouds but she manages to make her way to the entrance of the Great Hall before turning off and going to the Dungeons- when she passes two Slytherin girls who're heading in the same direction as her, it silently registers that she's going to see him. That she's actively seeking him out. Why? She has no clue. And she still doesn't know why this's gotten to her, so much so to lie to her friends of her whereabouts. Again, she knows deep down that his missing presence at the High Table wasn't something to cause alarm, but it's still something she wants to figure out. One Slytherin boy who goes ahead of her gives her a silent, questioning glance but she ignores him and carries on, keeping her head down to avoid puzzled stares at this small Gryffindor girl going in the direction of it's opposing house.

She manages to slip into the crowd, unnoticed, with the Slytherin students as they head down into the dungeons. Most of them frown at her but the majority either don't see her or don't care enough to wonder on it. Regardless, her head and eyes stay to at her feet, her fingers clasped as she almost hurries to his office, but stops herself when she feels elbows nudge her side and people simply go around her as if she were invisible. A girl says the password to the rooms door and soon there's a flurry of students trying to get inside, and she presses herself to the wall to avoid injury, watching everyone disappear through the entrance until she's the last student left. Aside from her potions classes, she's never stepped foot into the dungeons and her heart squeezes when an ice cold wind sweeps through her robes- she'd forgotten how damp the dungeons were. With a crowd around her, she'd hardly noticed it, but now it seemed to be the only thing her mind could focus on and she wraps her arms around her, suddenly picking up on the deathly quiet surrounding the stoned area. The common room's an entirely separate area to the classroom and she easily makes her way down, her shoes echoing off the walls and reverberating in her ears. It's as if the dungeons want to remind her of alone she is and she swallows when she sees his office- at the sight of it, her stomach falls but she braves herself and steps up, raising a hand to knock on the door. But she hesitates at the last second. Why was she doing this? It's not like his face'd light up upon seeing her and she knows he's never exactly favoured her in his class; actually, she's begun to guess over the years that she's probably one of his least favourite students, next to Harry of course. This was stupid, of course it was. It was none of her business as to why he'd been absent from the feast and why she cared so much was beyond her- anyway he'd just send her back to her own common room.

She suppresses her frustrated groan and turns to go back up, but the office door opens and Hermione's heart goes to her throat when she sees, from the corner of her eye, the tall figure of Professor Snape step out. He's dressed in his usual black outfit, with his cloak this time to give him the impression of an almost overgrown bat but, and it may be the light, his skin's lost a bit of it's colour. At the sight of her, he pauses and arches a brow but neither speak for a moment and Hermione suddenly curses her curiosity having gotten the better of her. She should've carried up with Harry and Ron.

She slowly turns back to his office and right as her gaze meets his, a chill rips through her entire being. Harry was right, his black eyes hold no warmth whatsoever and they're almost boring into her as if silently studying her, taking in her shivering posture. Being this close to him made her want to race back up the dungeons stairs; his presence is so cold and his face's completely blank as he continues to watch her, Hermione willing herself to ignore it all.

"Have you lost your way, Miss Granger?"

His voice holds a subtle wit and she can feel her face warm, "N-No, I-"

He tilts his head as she forces herself to stop trembling, from the icy wind she figures. She's the intelligent one, based on facts and logic. It's almost ridiculous how the mere presence of her professor has her knees about to buckle. Her voice's stilled in her throat, but she wills her gaze to hold his and it's only now that she suddenly sees they're stained red….as if he's been….crying? His face still gives nothing away and he's silent while he waits for a response from the Gryffindor girl. Hermione swallows again and finally finds some words to ramble out,

"Y-You weren't at the feast, Professor." Her voice's almost small against his own.

He blanks, then a slow smirk curls his lip and he replies in a clouded joking manner, "How very perceptive of you, Miss Granger." His hands clasp together, "Indeed, I was absent from dinner."

It's almost like he's mocking her, silently telling her to go back to her own common room, but she stands her ground and stays put. She's stopped trembling but she still can't fight the way he's looking at her, his lips now a thin line and his expression continuously hiding something more.

"Is that all?"

"I…." She catches herself, and the question simmers at the front of her mind. She knows she won't rest tonight if she doesn't find out why, even if she's already gotten the hint that he doesn't want her here. She already knows she shouldn't be here herself, "I was just-"

"Yes?"

Her voice's back into her throat at the sudden interjection, but she fights to keep her balance, "I was wondering where you were." His brows knit together so she quickly adds, "I-I mean, no one's missed the Halloween feast before and…" She trails away when she feels her face burning but he doesn't push her to continue, and instead smirks again. Though his eyes're still cold, they've stopped drinking her in and she feels the tiniest weight lift from her shoulders. The loud chatter of Slytherin students hidden in the common room has her gaze linger on the door and she finds her mind wandering back to her own- no doubt Professor McGonnagal'd be calling the role by now.

Snape's hands go behind his back, "And you wish to know why I had?"

She frowns, startled by his question, "Well…" No point in hiding it now. "Yes."

Her Gryffindor bravery shines through but it slowly dissipates when his smirk's wiped clear from his face. He brings his hands in front of himself, still folded together, "I believe that's none of your concern, Miss Granger."

She can feel her fighting spirit leave her in an instant and she's left feeling foolish again, but he shows no remorse in his words. It really was none of her business and she didn't exactly come down here looking for a straight answer- knowing him, his wit came in buckets and he had a knowing habit of avoiding questions, especially ones belonging to ever curious students or other members of staff.

Hermione swallows. The cold's biting at her ankles and his piercing gaze makes her want to sink into the floor. Her cheeks're hot as she nods to him, now getting it, "Right, um- sorry, sir, I'll go back to my common room…"

He watches her turn, almost amused at her behaviour. For a Gryffindor student, she had a nasty habit of getting ripped into situations that weren't hers to begin with, but perhaps it was because she was so involved with the Potter boy. If not for him, she would've fallen back with the other students, her only vice to be her raised hand in classes and her copious amounts of textbook knowledge to get her noticed. Even he'd picked up on her immediately when she'd first stretched her hand high on her very first day in his classroom for a question that was aimed specifically for Potter, so even if he didn't entangle her in his many adventures, she'd still be the sore thumb in every teachers eye. She definitely irks _him_ each time she steps through the classroom door.

He ought to tell McGonnagal about this, her being out past curfew to see him with such an ask. But he's not that petty. Not even for the Granger girl. His eyes take in her bushy hair, how the sound of her shoes bounce off the hard stone as she heads up the steps and he's suddenly struck with why she came down here in the first place. This was Granger. She wouldn't of come down here if it wasn't important to her, or at least something she just _had_ to know.

With a low sigh, he decides to catch her attention again and calls her surname. She's almost disappeared from his sight when he does and she turns her head in stunned silence, but he hasn't moved nor has his expression changed in the slightest. It seems he wants to be as closed off as possible with whatever she wants to get at. He arches his brow again when she remains on the step.

"If you must know Miss Granger, I had some personal matters to take care of."

Hermione takes this in. She frowns when she sees his eyes're slightly puffy and she gets the sudden inkling that he isn't being fully honest with her, but she already knows he's done with the conversation and that this's really all the information he'll give her. Why he chose to respond to her question, she'd never know. But it's something,

"Oh."

He moves towards the Slytherin common room, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a common room to attend to."

She watches him fix his attention to the door, and she raises herself up a stair to leave but his voice stops her,

"Goodnight, Miss Granger."

The politeness from her Professor throws her off for a moment. Manners was the last thing she expected from him. With her eyes on him, she chokes out a, "Goodnight, Sir."

He doesn't smile, doesn't even react to her response and takes his cue to leave. He says the password and steps through the door and Hermione heads up to her own common room as if her life depended on it. Though she'd gotten used to being in the cold, her body was aching for the warmth the Gryffindor room gave her.

She steps through the door after uttering it's password and finds the room deserted except for Harry and Ron, who're seated on separate arm chairs, both fast asleep with the fire blazing in the corner. They'd kept their promise and waited up for her, but telling from them passing out, it quickly dawns on her that she'd spent more time than intended in the dungeons. Abandoning the thought, she approaches Ron and gently shakes him awake. His eyes jolt open and he looks right at Hermione, a flash of panic coming across his face, but when his brain registers it's her, he relaxes in the chair and rubs his eyes. Across from him, Harry's slowly waking and at seeing Hermione, a frown comes across his face,

"Hermione? What took you so long?"

Hermione glides past his chair to crouch by the fire, "Nevermind that." She hugs herself and both boys watch her, confused, though it's taking Ron a little longer to find his bearings on being woken so suddenly, "Aren't either of you cold?"

They exchange glances and Ron shakes his head, "No…" He gets off his chair and goes over to her, "Hermione, what's going on? You were gone for almost an hour. We had to lie to McGonnagal and tell her you'd gone to the loo."

She can feel Harry watching her and she rubs her hands together before answering. After glancing at Ron, she pauses and lowers her voice, despite them being the only students in the common room, "Did you notice that Professor Snape was missing from the Halloween feast?"

Ron looks back at Harry, but he only shakes his head no. He's just as confused as Ron is. He sighs and looks right at Hermione who's eyes stray on the flames, "No."

"Well, I went to see him."

To her astonishment, Ron grins, amused, "What?"

Hermione glances at him, "You heard me."

"But…why?"

At this, Hermione stands and continues on, ignoring his questioning tone, "I think he was crying." She walks back to the chairs and Ron follows, Harry still staying quiet. They both exchange glances but don't say anything else and Hermione leans against the wall, her hand to her chin. When she doesn't get a response, she looks up to see both staring at her as if waiting for her to carry on. She frowns, "Aren't you wondering why? Harry?"

Her eyes fix on him and he moves off his chair, "Not really, Hermione. I mean, he was probably brewing a potion or something."

Hermione considers it. She's already gone through that theory but…why would he've had red eyes over that? It doesn't add up. She looks between them but remains silent, thinking it over. It's Ron who breaks the quiet. He stretches, making both look at him.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed."

Harry quickly nods and he goes to follow Ron up, but right as they reach their bedroom door, Hermiones voice calls up,

"Hey, Harry?"

Harry peeks over the balcony to see her flushed face looking up at him, "Yeah?"

"Did anything significant happen on October 31st?"

Ron frowns but something suddenly dawns on Harry at the mentioned date and a pained expression passes over his face, which Hermione manages to catch. She goes up to meet them; Harry and Ron're already near their door while Hermione stands close to hers- Harry's gone strangely quiet and Ron moves to grasp the bedroom handle as he looks up and says in a low voice,

"Voldemort killed my parents on that date."

The mention of them have Hermiones heart sink. _Of course_. When she looks at Ron, she can see his face's contorted in the same broken, yet confused, expression as hers, "But what does that have to do with Professor Snape?"

Harry shrugs; his heart's not into this at all- the memory's already frustrating enough and he's full of food from the feast to ponder anymore on it, "I don't know."

Hermione gives an exasperated sigh, but Ron steps forward to put his hand on her arm, making her meet his eyes, "Hey, get some rest alright? We'll figure this out in the morning."

She sees him open the door and Harry carefully step inside as to not to wake the other boys and she has no choice but to nod with a small smile tugging her lips. Ron was right; her brain already felt like a melted cake from all the studying she'd been doing in the library all afternoon and she does, admittedly, need the sleep, "Thanks, Ron."

He sends her a final comforting smile before following after Harry and gently shutting the door, leaving Hermione on the balcony. After thinking on it for a little longer, she finally turns and grips the handle- as she opens the door, a little light spills in and Ginny stirs in her sleep but stills when Hermione closes it. She makes her way to her own bed and carefully climbs under the covers, but she doesn't go to sleep right away; though Professor Snape'd given her an answer, her immediate gut feeling was that it wasn't the truth. He'd definitely been crying…but why? What connection did this date have with his behaviour? Did it really have anything to do with Halloween, or was it just a coincidence? He'd never missed a feast in the past so why now? What was different now?

It wasn't Hermiones place to think on it. Or either of the boys for that matter. But it was for sure an odd occurrence. And no way was she going to let this settle until she'd found the answer her Professor'd refused to give her.

It takes awhile but after listening to the soft snores of the girls around her and watching the moonlight spill onto their blankets, she eventually feels her eyelids begin to droop and she doesn't let herself argue with it this time. With her mind running, she falls into a restless sleep, promising herself to get to the bottom of this mystery tomorrow.


End file.
